Nicole Smith English
by The Roaring Panther
Summary: Nicole has just moved from Canada to England and begins at Hogwarts, grade 6. She is sorted into Slytherin and become friends with Blaise Zabini, Draco Malfoy and some of the other students in Slytherin.
1. Chapter 1

Nicole stared at the huge, red train that would take her to Hogwarts. Several others did the same thing, but they were all younger than here. Probably first-year students.

"Nicole, be careful", said a worried voice behind her. "If you ever want to come home you just need to send us an owl."

She turned around.

"Mum, I've been at a boarding school before", she answered her mother, who had tears in her green eyes. "I'll be fine."

She gave her a quick hug before she moved towards the door on one of the wagons. Her mum wiped away the tears but remained on the platform and watched her only daughter step onto the train.

She walked by the compartments to try and find an empty seat. Typical; all of them are taken, she thought and walked over to the next wagon. She opened the door and realized that this wagon had no compartments, but an open space with seats. People turned around to see who'd walked in. They all looked surprised and thoughtful. Not to wonder considering that she was new, but she felt kind of uncomfortable. Her gaze ran along the wagon and found an empty seat next to a dark-haired girl. She started to walk towards it and, of course, the girl noticed.

"Is this seat empty?" Nicole asked when she reached it.

"No, my boyfriend sits here", the girl answered in a snotty tone and glanced at the boy opposite her. He was dark-skinned, handsome and Nicole had to admit that his face looked really nice.

"Pansy, you do not have a boy…" he begun, but received a murdering glance from the girl, who was obviously named Pansy, and quickly shut up.

"Is the seat next to you free, then?" Nicole asked the dark boy. He nodded and gave Pansy a dark look. Ncole threw her bag onto the rack above them before sitting down.

"So, who are you?" Pansy asked, still snotty. "I haven't seen you here before."

"I've just moved here, from Canada", Nicole answered in a short tone.

"Oh, I didn't know that there were wizarding schools there", Pansy said, before her face changed to a smiling one as a boy with blonde hair came into the wagon.

"Draco, we're over here!" she called. He noticed her and walked over to them with determined steps. Nicole looked at him. According to her he was extremely good-looking; pale, blonde hair, pale skin and grey eyes. He threw up his briefcase onto the rack and sat down. His gaze then fell upon Nicole.

"And who are you?" he asked sourly.

"This is… I'm sorry, what was your name again?" Pansy asked and turned towards Nicole.

"I didn't say", Nicole answered with a brief smile. "I'm Nicole. Nicole Smith."

"She's just moved here from Canada", the dark boy filled in. Now the blonde guy gave her a thin smile.

"Where in Canada are you from?" he asked.

"Toronto, but my school was outside of Ottawa", Nicole answered.

"Draco, your tie is crooked", Pansy said to the blonde guy, who looked quizzically at her. "Hold on, I've got it."

She leaned over him and grabbed onto the tie, pulling it right again. It was like she wanted to show everyone that he was hers, but he looked almost frightened. She leaned back onto her seat and gave Nicole a look that said I know you're jealous of me. Nicole raised her eyebrows at her.

"So, what house do you think you'll end up in?" the dark guy asked. She shrugged.

"No idea. But I'm not much for studying, so I doubt it will be Ravenclaw, if I've understood the houses correctly."

She laughed silently.

"You're a pureblood?" Pansy asked.

"What, do you think I look like a muggle?" Nicole answered in an offended tone. Pansy shrugged.

"No, I just wondered."

They talked about everything between heaven and earth, but mostly about Nicole, during the rest of the trip, but when they were almost at Hogwarts the wagon suddenly turned pitch-black. It was a big, black cloud of smoke that had appeared out of nowhere and several people screamed. Draco rose from his seat and, actually, looked scared.

"What happened?" Draco asked in a worried tone. "Blaise?"

"Don't know", Blaise, the dark guy, answered, remaining calm.

Nicole, who hated darkness, sat still on her seat but had grown tense, her hands gripping the seat. Blaise put a hand on her shoulder.

"It's alright", he whispered. The smoke soon thinned out and everything was visible once again. Blaise removed the hand from her shoulder. Then a bag fell down from the rack and landed in front of Draco; he stared at it, his mouth slightly open in surprise.

"Calm down, guys", Pansy said. "It's probably just some first-year student who's bought something at Fred and George's shop in Diagon Alley. Come on, Draco. We'll be at Hogwarts soon."

She patted the seat next to her. Draco grabbed the bag and put it back up on the rack, before sitting down next to her. She ran her hands through his hair, but his expression only grew sour again.

"Hogwarts", he spat out. "What a pathetic excuse for a school. I think I might throw myself off the Astronomy-tower if I have to be there for another two years."

Pansy, who'd been playing with one pale strand of his hair, stopped.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"I'm just saying that I doubt you'll be seeing me waste some of my time in Transfiguration next year", Draco answered, still sounding sour. Pansy looked confused and glanced at Blaise, who gave a silent laugh.

"Amused, Blaise?" Draco said and glared at him. "We'll see who has the final word in this."

Blaise shook his head at him and smiled, before turning his face and stared out the window into the oncoming darkness. Then the small bag, which Draco had put up before, moved above them. Both Nicole and Draco glanced up at it, but no one moved.

The train pulled up at the station and the students in the wagon started to move out onto the platform. Pansy, Blaise and Nicole got ready to move out; Draco reached up and took down his briefcase, then sat back down.

"You go ahead", he said. "I just want to check something."

Nicole followed Blaise towards the exit with Pansy behind her. She hurried forward so that she could walk next to the dark boy, whom she actually thought of as nice, in opposite to Pansy. Draco she wasn't sure of yet; one moment he was sour, the next he was happy. He seemed torn.

"I apologize for Draco's behavior", Blaise said as they stepped off the platform and followed a forest-road. "He's not usually like that."

"No problem", Nicole answered and pushed back a strand of her dark-brown hair, which had fallen down into her face.

"You got scared when it turned dark?" he asked. She turned towards him.

"Scared? Me? Wouldn't think so."

Her voice probably betrayed her; she didn't sound too confident. He looked her deep in the eyes and raised his eyebrows, clearly showing that he did not believe her.

"Yeah, alright, I got a bit scared", she said silently. "I just don't like darkness, that's all."

He grinned.

"I know, it's stupid", she continued.

"Maybe, but honestly it's also kind of cute", Blaise answered. Nicole blushed.

They stopped and saw a wagon, which nothing was pulling, roll away with several students in it. Behind it came an empty one, which stopped so that they could step on. Blaise stepped on first and Nicole swiftly followed, claiming the seat next to him. She then heard someone laughing a few meters away and turned around, noticing three guys who came walking along the track. The one to the left was quite tall, had short brown hair and stubble. He carried a black briefcase in his left hand. The guy in the middle was somewhat shorter, with light-brown hair and with a shoulder-bag slung over one of his shoulders. The third guy had blonde hair and was of about the same height as the first one, and also he had a shoulder-bag over one of his shoulders.

"Look, it's Blaise!" the blonde one said. The other two stopped laughing and looked up.

"Hey, Blaise!" they called simultaneously and climbed up into the wagon. The three of them sat down opposite them and their gazes immediately fell on Nicole.

"Blaise, now you'd better introduce us to the lady next to you", the brown-haired boy said.

"This is Nicole Smith", Blaise answered. "Nicole, this is Daniel Miller, Zachary Tyler and Tom Perez."

"Hi", Nicole said with a slight smile.

"Where have you hid her before, Blaise?" Tom, the blonde guy, asked. "I've never seen her before."

"I've just moved here from Canada", Nicole answered.

"Wow, from Canada", Daniel, the brown-haired one, said. The wagon then started to move and they headed further away, closer to the castle itself.

"So, you two, are you… well, you know?" Zach, the boy with the light-brown hair, asked Blaise.

"What?" Blaise said, surprised. "No!"

"Oh, well, I thought you might", Zach said. "Well, then I might have a chance after all, or what do you say?"

He winked at Nicole, who wasn't sure how to answer such a question.

"Er…"

She glanced at Blaise.

"Guys, leave her alone", he said and she gave him a thankful smile.

"Alright, I'm just saying; the door's open", Zach continued and winked again. Daniel pushed him in the side with his elbow to shut him up.

"You know where you're going?" Blaise asked her once they entered the castle.

"I was supposed to see Professor McGo… McGo…"

She tried to remember the name of the teacher that had been written in her letter.

"McGonagall?" he suggested.

"Yes, that's what I was about to say", she said and rolled her eyes at him. He smiled.

"Well, then you should head over there; she takes care of all the first-year students before the sorting and they gather at that place", he said and pointed in one direction. "She should be here any minute now to wait for them."

"Right, thank you", she said and smiled back.

"Good luck, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that you'll end up in Slytherin!" he said, then headed after a couple of other students. Nicole looked after him for a few more moments, before she headed in the direction he had pointed her in to wait for McGonagall.


	2. Chapter 2

There was complete chaos in the entrance-hall. Nicole felt like covering her ears, but that would look ridiculous. She was surrounded by people who were at least a head shorter than her, and she herself wasn't exactly tall; being 1.65 meters. A woman wearing a pointy, black hat came striding towards the crowd. Nicole guessed that that would be McGonagall and, as the woman introduced herself, she was correct.

"God evening and welcome to Hogwarts", she said and all the new students fell silent. "My name is Professor McGonagall and I am one of you teachers here."

"Before we enter the Great Hall and start the sorting I want to tell you that all houses are just as good and whichever one you end up in you will be just as good as anyone else", she continued. Nicole rolled her eyes. According to those that she'd sat with on the train Slytherin was the best house and Gryffindor the worst. She'd already figured out that she wouldn't end up in Ravenclaw and the mere name _Hufflepuff_ made her laugh. And as she did not want to end up in the "worst" house, she wanted to be a Slytherin. As she already knew some students there, that house would work out just fine.

She woke up from her thoughts as McGonagall started to walk. All students followed her into the Great Hall and, yes, it was as big as you'd imagine by the name. There were four tables, one for each house, that reached from one short side to the other and above those there were candles floating in the air. At the end of the room was another table, but turned the other way around so it went from long side to long side instead. Nicole briefly acknowledged that that was the teachers' table. In front of that table was a podium with an owl to support the papers someone might bring up there, and diagonally in front of that stood a stool with a big, moldy hat.

Nicole felt like everyone was looking at her, which wasn't too strange since she was much older than the kids surrounding her. McGonagall then stopped by the hat and turned around; the students came to a sudden halt, scared to come any closer.

"When I call your name you come here and sit down on the stool", she ordered and lifted the hat. "Jacob Atwood!"

A small guy with freckles stepped forward and sat down on the stool. McGonagall put the hat on his head and after a few seconds it shouted:

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

One of the tables started cheering and as McGonagall took the hat off his head, he quickly walked towards them. Considering that her last name started with an S, Nicole figured that she would have to wait for a long time before it was her turn.

"RAVENCLAW!" the hat shouted and the small, blonde girl quickly walked away to the cheering table. Now there were only five students left in front of the hat, and Nicole was one of them.

"Nicole Smith!" McGonagall called and Nicole smiled, walked with determined steps towards the stool and basically pulled the hat over her head herself.

"Hm, tough call", the hat whispered. She flinched as she hadn't been prepared for it to talk with her.

"You're brave and quick-minded, but you've also got blood that makes me think that a certain house would be perfect for you", the hat continued. Nicole felt her heart beat faster for every moment that the hat was silent.

"SLYTHERIN!" the hat finally yelled and she grinned. McGonagall took the hat off her head and she hurried over to the Slytherin-table. She quickly looked for Blaise and found him with Draco, Pansy and some others near the middle of the table. She headed that way, but found herself being pulled down into the lap of another student.

"How nice of you to come by", the student said. She turned around and saw that it was Zach who'd pulled her down.

"Er… just leave me alone, alright?" Nicole said and pulled out of his grip. She saw Tom saying something to Zach and then laugh. With a sigh she continued her way to Blaise and the others. Blaise turned towards her with a smile.

"Welcome to the best of houses, come sit down", he said and jumped aside to leave some room for her. Nicole managed to squeeze in between him and the sturdy guy whom he'd been sitting next to.

"Thanks", she said and smiled briefly at Draco, who looked as sour as before. She turned away from him, only to receive a murdering glare from Pansy. The dark-haired girl once again started playing with a strand of Draco's hair, just to show that he was taken. Nicole gave her a questioning look and then turned back to Blaise.

"So, who are all of these people?" she asked.

"Left of Pansy is Daphne Greengrass, just as bad as Pansy I'd say", he begun in a silent voice, nodding towards a blonde girl with green eyes who was currently talking to Pansy. "Left of Draco is Vincent Crabbe; he's as stupid as he is big, but always hangs around Draco. And on the other side of you is Gregory Goyle, who is just as stupid as Crabbe."

He nodded at the sturdy guy next to her, she nodded back in response and tried to memorize the names.

"On my other side is Theodore Nott and he's alright, not the talkative type but really good to have as your partner in Potions-class", Blaise finished. Nicole glanced at the boy with dark-blonde hair next to Blaise. He didn't say anything but sure did look like a smart type.

All of a sudden several plates with food appeared on the table and the students started filling their own plates with all kinds of things. Nicole quickly reached out for a chicken-leg, then also put some ribs, potato wedges, turkey and salad on her plate. Blaise laughed at her as she started eating.

"You look like you haven't been eating for three years!"

"I haven't been eating too much during the last few days due to that I was nervous for the sorting", she answered with chicken in her mouth. After that, they once again kept talking about everything that came to mind.

"So you're saying that you met a troll and lived through it without a scratch?" she asked Blaise as they walked out of the Great Hall and headed to the Slytherin common room. She didn't believe him, but she liked hearing his stories.

"Yes, it's completely true", he answered with a smile. "When I was in the French Alps I met a troll and got away without any problems."

"Well, if you say so", she said with a grin, then lowered her voice. "But I do not believe you."

Blaise heard her and nudged her in the side.

"You're weird", he said. She nudged him back, a little harder than he'd nudged her.

"You're weirder", she responded. Then they came to a halt in front of a stonewall.

"What are we doing here?" she asked.

"Serpent", he said and the wall slid aside.

"Oh, wow", Nicole managed to say and followed Blaise through the corridor. It wasn't very big, but it was possible to walk side by side in it, though their arms kept almost constant contact. At one point Nicole felt like he was trying to grab her hand, but he never did. After a while the corridor widened and they came out into a room with several black and dark-green sofas of leather, along with some armchairs of the same type, some tables with matching chairs and two fireplaces.

"Welcome to our common room", Blaise said and stepped into the room, which at the moment only contained three other students.

"There's usually more people in here", he continued. "The girls' dormitory is to your right; there are signs on the door of each room with the names of the people in it."

He steered his steps towards the left, which obviously led to the boys' dormitory. She went in the opposite direction and found a long corridor with several doors. She started looking for her own name and found it on the fifth door, reading both Pansy's and Daphne's name on the sign as well. With a sigh, she opened the door. In the room stood five beds with emerald-green canopies and spreads in the same color. On the bed furthest from the door was her trunk. She walked towards it and sat down on it, put the trunk down onto the floor and opened it. She then brought up a picture-frame with a photo of a quidditch-team dressed in blue and brown. On the picture she sat on the shoulders of a black-haired boy and around them stood the rest of the team, smiling. They'd just won the Canadian School Championship in quidditch and it was thanks to her. They'd played against a school from Vancouver and had a pretty good lead, when the Vancouver Seeker noticed the Snitch and at that point, their Chasers tried an attack against her. They tried scoring, but Nicole had saved it and some second later the Seeker had caught the snitch. Her school had still won, but only because of that she'd managed to save that last shot of theirs. That was why she'd been held the highest in the picture; she'd saved them from ending up in second place.

She then kept unpacking her trunk. A notebook, a book about dragons and some other stuff came up on her nightstand. That was when Pansy and Daphne came into the room. They were giggling, but fell silent when they noticed Nicole.

"Oh, so we ended up in the same dormitory", Pansy said and walked over to the middle-bed, which was hers.

"Obviously", Nicole answered and closed the trunk.

"Well, if we are going to share a room this year I want to make sure that you understand the rules", Pansy continued. Nicole raised her eyebrows at her.

"One; everything that is said in this room stays between us. Two; I'm the one to decide how to do things. Three; if you as much as try to flirt with Draco, you're dead."

She put her hands on her bed and leaned over it, glaring at Nicole.

"And why would I want to flirt with Draco?" Nicole asked and glared back.

"Oh don't even try; I've seen the looks you've given him", Pansy answered, once again snotty.

"Looks? The only looks I've given him are kind ones. I'm only nice, something that you probably don't know how to be."

Pansy straightened up and looked shocked. No one had probably spoken to her like that before. She opened her mouth to say something, but then turned and disappeared out the door with Daphne following her. Nicole sighed. How could she possibly endure this for one year?

Why wasn't she tired? She'd barely gotten some sleep over the past few days and now she was unable to get some when what she'd been nervous about was over? She stared up into the green canopy and sighed. After a while she rose and slipped out of the room. Closing the door behind her, she continued towards the common room. The first thing she noticed when she got there was that another person was sitting in a sofa, staring at the fire which was burning in one of the fireplaces. She walked over to him and realized that it was Blaise. He turned and noticed her as well.

"Mind if I sit down?" she asked. He shook his head and she sat down next to him, pulling up her knees beneath her chin.

"You can't sleep?" he asked, without tearing his gaze from the fire.

"No."

He smiled slightly.

"Me neither. Theodore may be silent when he's awake but when he sleeps he sounds more than you could guess."

Nicole smiled as well.

"I guess I'm thinking too much", she admitted and looked at him. "All thoughts are going back and forth and it's a complete mess in my head that I have to sort out, and that's why I can't sleep."

He turned towards her and she came to notice his clothes; black and grey checked pajama-pants and a grey t-shirt.

"Don't think so much, then", he said with a grin.

"You don't think I try?" Nicole answered with a slight laugh. Then they both fell silent.

"You know what I'm thinking?" Blaise suddenly asked.

"What?" Nicole said and turned towards him.

"I'm thinking that I was very lucky when I met that troll", he answered with a laugh.

"Come on, you're lying", Nicole said and nudged him.

"No, I don't", he answered and nudged back.

"Oh yes, you do", she said and nudged again. After a while he grew tired of nudging and being nudge and started tickling her instead, making her squirm with laughter and kick him on the lower leg. He let out a slight whimper, before they both shared another laugh.


	3. Chapter 3

Nicole opened her eyes and her first thought was _Where the hell am I_? She soon figured out that she was lying on one of the sofas in the common room. Obviously she'd fallen asleep there during the night. Carefully she sat up and noticed that Blaise was sleeping on the other side of the couch; his head leaned back and his mouth wide open. She laughed silently. He looked kind of funny. She then pushed him lightly on the shoulder.

"Blaise", she said silently. No reaction. She pushed him somewhat harder.

"Blaise", she said again. He twitched and looked around.

"What? Oh."

He looked at Nicole, smiled and then rubbed his eyes.

"Morning", she said with a big yawn.

"We fell asleep", he said and yawned as well. Nicole started to laugh and he looked questioning.

"What?" he asked.

"It's just quite funny", she answered and smiled towards him. "Waking up here on my first day at Hogwarts, see you sleep, see you newly awake and not as neat as yesterday."

"Huh, well, that's kind of funny", he said and laughed a bit. "You know you're completely black beneath your eyes, don't you?"

"Oh no!" she exclaimed and started rubbing herself beneath the eyes to get the make-up away. He looked amused.

"Stop laughing!" she said and rubbed even harder.

"Wait, you've got some here, on your cheek", he said and jumped closer.

"Where? Here?"

She started rubbing her right cheek.

"No, on your left", he answered. She shifted and rubbed her left cheek instead.

"Is it gone?" she asked and stopped rubbing.

"No, it's still there", he said. "Hold on, I'll fix it for you."

He ran his thumb across her left cheek. She then noticed just how close he was sitting and that she was able to breathe in his scent with every breath she took. How was it possible that he could smell that good when he'd just woken up? He looked into her eyes and slowly removed his hand. She cleared her throat.

"Thanks", she mumbled and looked away, glancing at the clock on the wall. It pointed at a quarter to five.

"Oh, it's not later?" she said and turned back to Blaise, who was still looking at her.

"Yeah… Nicole, don't take this the wrong way", he begun and she looked questioning.

"Alright", she then said.

"Well, it's just that you… er, well… you're very beautiful", he managed to say. She blushed.

"Oh, er… well, you're not bad either", she responded silently. He slowly leaned closer and seemed to be about to kiss her. Nicole closed her eyes and leaned in as well. Then they heard footsteps coming from the boys' dormitory. Blaise stopped and turned towards the doorway. The steps came closer but then seemed to disappear into a room.

"Probably Theodore who's been at the bathroom", Blaise said silently and turned back towards Nicole, who had opened her eyes again. She was still leaning towards him.

"You're sure about that?" she asked silently.

"He's always at the bathroom at this time", Blaise answered and looked deep into her eyes.

"You're eyes are very green", he said after studying them for a while.

"Yeah, I know", she mumbled.

"They're very beautiful, and unusual", he continued in the same calm, silent tone. He then stroked her cheek with one hand and she leaned closer, until their lips met and they shared a long kiss.

Nicole sat down on the bench by the table. Blaise sat down next to her. On the table there were several plates filled with toast, porridge, scrambled eggs, bacon and sausage, along with a few bowls of fruit and vegetables. Nicole reached out to pull one of the fruit-bowls closer and put a number of bananas and a mango on her own plate. Blaise, on the other hand, grabbed a toast and put butter and cheese on it. He then reached for the juice-jug, at the same time as Nicole, and their hands met in midair. They looked at one another and shared a laugh.

"You go first", Nicole said and pulled back the hand.

"No, ladies first", Blaise responded and pushed the jug towards her. She sighed, poured some juice into her goblet and then passed the jug to Blaise.

"What's your first lesson?" he asked. Her mouth was full of food, so she had to swallow before she could answer him.

"Potions", she answered and removed the peel from another banana.

"Same as me, then", Blaise said with a smile. Then Tom, Zach and Daniel came over and sat down opposite the.

"So, here you two sit and look newly in love", Tom said and reached for the scrambled eggs.

"What?" both Blaise and Nicole said.

"We, in love, come on", Nicole then said and Blaise nodded in agreement.

"Well, if you say so", Tom said. Daniel and Zach had started fighting over the bread-basket, a fight which ended with Zach releasing it so that Daniel tipped it and all of the breads fell down into his lap. Tom and Zach shared a laugh.

"What the hell was that for?" Daniel spat out and threw a piece of bread at Zach.

"Word of advice; never pick a fight with Daniel before breakfast", Blaise whispered to Nicole. She nodded and continued eating her mango.

"So, Nicole, you play quidditch?" Tom then asked her.

"Yes, I do", she answered. "I was a part of my school's team when we won the Canadian School Championship."

Blaise raised his hand and removed a piece of mango from the corner of her mouth.

"So you're good then?" Zach asked and stopped the bread-war with Daniel. She nodded as she raised her goblet to take a sip.

"What's your position?" Tom asked and took a bite from his toast.

"Keeper", Nicole answered after finishing her juice.

"What a coincidence that our last Keeper finished school last year and then you start here", Tom said.

"You should come to the try-outs", Daniel filled in, then poured juice into his own goblet.

"Sure. When is it?"

"After the last lesson on Friday", Tom answered.

"Alright, and you four are all in the team?" she asked and looked at the guys surrounding her.

"The three of us are in, Blaise is trying out for Chaser last year but didn't manage to get in", Tom said and turned to the dark boy. "But you're trying out again this year, right? There's an empty Chaser-spot as well."

"We'll see", Blaise answered and finished his toast.

"Of course you should do the try-outs, Blaise", Nicole said and nudged him, before turning back to the others. "What about you, then; what positions have you got?"

"Daniel's a Beater, Zach is a Chaser and so am I", Tom answered, then looked proud. "I also got appointed to Captain this year."

"Who's the Seeker?" Nicole asked, out of curiosity.

"Draco, but he's been saying that he might quit", Tom answered and finished his juice. "But I haven't heard anything definite, so we're all counting on him."

Nicole followed Blaise into the classroom where they would have Potions. There was no one else there yet, which was quite expected since the lesson didn't start until fifteen minutes later. Blaise put his bag on the floor next to one of the benches. Nicole placed hers next to his. He then turned towards her, placed his hands on her cheeks and slowly pulled them backwards, up into her hair, as he pressed his lips towards hers. She responded and wrapped her arms around his waist. They quickly finished the kiss, however, when they heard footsteps coming closer to the classroom. They immediately let go of one another and took the positions two people would have if they were just talking.

"Good morning, Professor", Blaise said, having been able to see the door from his place and had noticed Professor Slughorn entering the room.

"Ah, good morning, Mr Zabini", a male voice answered. Nicole turned around to look at the professor in question; he was quite short, chubby and not exactly young.

"Who's your friend, Zabini?" Slughorn asked.

"This is Nicole Smith, Professor", Blaise answered.

"Ah, right", the man said and started taking out a few things from a cupboard. "Dumbledore told me that you were new to the school. Am I remembering it right that you had just moved here from Canada?"

"Yes, exactly, Professor", Nicole answered and leaned back against the bench behind her. Slughorn stepped in behind his desk and looked at her.

"Well, the only Canadian Smith-family I know of is the one that Frederick Smith belonged to", he said and studied her from head to toe. "You know, the Beater in the Canadian quidditchteam."

"Yes, he's my grandfather", Nicole answered and felt very happy that someone here knew about Canadian wizard-families.

"Really?" Slughorn said and smiled. "You know, I used to have a group of students that gathered every now and then to have dinner and some feasts together. Would you like to join the new edition of it?"

"I would be honored", Nicole answered and returned the smile.

"Excellent, I'll send you an owl when something is up", he said, in the exact moment that Pansy and Draco entered the classroom. Pansy glared at Nicole and put her hand on Draco's shoulder. Draco just nodded at Nicole and Blaise, before taking a place next to the darker boy. Pansy immediately claimed the seat on her boyfriend's other side.

"Alright, in front of you all I've placed out a few potions and…"

Slughorn was interrupted as the door to the classroom opened. Two guys came inside. A blonde girl smiled widely as she noticed the one with red hair.

"Ah, Harry!" Slughorn said, also smiling. "I started to get worried. And you've brought someone else along."

"I'm Ron Weasley, sir", the red-haired guy said. "But I'm really not good at Potions, kind of horrible, actually, so I should probably…"

"Nonsense, we'll handle that", Slughorn said. "All friends of Harry's are friends of mine. Take out your books…"

"Um, sorry sir, but I do not have a book, and neither has Ron", the boy with dark hair, the one Slughorn had called Harry, said. "You see, until this morning we…"

"No worries, take whatever you need from the cupboard", Slughorn said and turned back towards the class. Nicole then realized that the dark-haired boy probably was Harry Potter, the boy who lived. He and his friend now headed towards the cupboard to get the books.

"Now, as I said before I've placed out a few potions here on the table", Slughorn continued. "Does anyone have any idea of what they might be?"

Nicole quickly raised her hand. So did another girl with bushy, brown hair who stood at the front. Slughorn pointed at Nicole.

"Yes, Miss Smith", he said and waved Nicole towards the desk. She smelled the first cauldron.

"This is Veritaserum, and that is Polyjuice elixir", she said and wrinkled her nose as she smelled the horrible smell of the Polyjuice in the second cauldron. She then stepped over to the third and final one to smell it.  
>"And this is… Amortentia! It's the strongest love-potion in the world. It smells different from person to person, depending on what smells you are attracted to. For example I smell apple-scented shampoo, chocolate and… mango."<p>

She thought about when Blaise had removed the mango-piece from her cheek. She also remembered that she'd thought he smelled of apple-shampoo when they'd been sitting on the couch.

"Very good, Miss Smith", Slughorn said and Nicole walked back to her place. Pansy glared at her, then whispered something to Daphne, who stood beside her.

"Amortentia can't of course create real love", Slughorn said. "That is impossible. But it creates a strong feeling that can be more seen as an obsession. Thanks to that, it is probably the most dangerous potion in this room."  
>He looked out over the class, out of which a few of the girls, among them Pansy, had walked closer to the potion with dreamy eyes. Slughorn quickly put a lid over the cauldron and the girls all stepped back. The blonde girl who'd been staring at the red-haired boy, Ron, when he came in had been one of them, and now she was once again staring at the boy, who looked uncomfortable.<p>

"Sir, you haven't told us what's in that one yet", a dark-skin girl from Gryffindor said and pointed at a small bottle filled with clear liquid.

"Ah, what you see in front of you, ladies and gentlemen, is a peculiar potion known as Felix Felicis", Slughorn said and held up the bottle with his fingers. "It's more known as…"

"Liquid luck", the brunette, who'd earlier raised her hand along with Nicole, filled in. There was a silent mumble filling the classroom and Draco, who'd been staring at the floor, looked up.

"Exactly, Miss…"

"Granger, sir", the girl answered.

"Granger", Slughorn said. "This is a very hard potion to make, and it is very dangerous if it's made the wrong way. But made in the right way, like this one, it has got the most incredible powers. One sip and you will see that you can do anything you want to do… at least until the effect of the potion wears of."

"But why don't people drink it all the time?" the same dark-skinned girl from Gryffindor asked.

"Because if it's taken too many times, it will cause dizziness, carelessness and dangerous self-confidence", Slughorn answered. Blaise raised his hand and the teacher pointed at him.

"Have you ever taken it, sir?" Blaise asked.

"Twice", Slughorn answered. "Once when I was twenty-four and once when I was fifty-seven. Two spoons for breakfast. Two perfect days…"

He looked out into the distance with a dreamy look on his face as he seemed to think back on the two amazing days he'd had. After a while he blinked and snapped back.

"So, this is what I offer you today", he said. "One small bottle filled with Liquid Luck, to the student who during the time left manages to brew an acceptable version of the Living Death-potion. You'll find the recipe on page ten in your books."

All students immediately started to flip the pages in their books.

"But you should all be aware of that when I was teacher here before, no one managed to make one dose of it that was good enough for the prize", Slughorn added. "But anyway… good luck."

He put the bottle back on his desk and the students all hurried away to their tables to start working. Nicole ended up at a table with Blaise, Daniel and Zach. She didn't see Tom anywhere, so he probably wasn't taking the course. Draco, Pansy, Daphne, Vincent and Gregory where at the next table. Nicole saw how Draco fought with cutting his Sopophorus-bean, but instead cut himself. He swore and Pansy were quickly next to him, asking if he was alright.

"It's impossible!" Zach desperately exclaimed and Daniel, who was yet to start cutting, laughed.

"Well, try it yourself, then", Zach muttered. Daniel grabbed his own knife and tried to cut his bean, but it skipped away. Zach started laughing.

"Stay still, stupid bean!" Daniel yelled as his bean jumped down onto the floor. Zach laughed even louder. Nicole tried to cut her own, but realized that it didn't work, but saw that the book only said the juice of a bean. So she put the knife flat over it and pressed, squeezing it so that she could drip the juice into her cauldron.

"How did you do that?" Zach asked, still looking kind of desperate as his bean kept avoiding the knife.

"Crush it instead", she answered.

"But the book says cut", Daniel said, rising from the floor with his bean in one hand.

"Well, do it your way, then", Nicole answered and kept reading the recipe.

Slughorn walked over to Nicole's cauldron and dripped a red leaf into it. It was quickly corroded by the potion.

"Merlin's beard, it's perfect!" he exclaimed. "So perfect that a drop of it would kill us all!"

"You and Mr Potter both made perfect versions of the potion", he continued. Nicole smiled proudly and Slughorn gave her the small bottle.

"There you go, as promised", he told her. "One bottle of Felix Felicis. Use it well."

He then turned to Harry.

"I will get you a bottle as well, Mr Potter, perhaps already this afternoon", he said. The other students glared jealously at Nicole's bottle and she quickly put it in her bag. Blaise walked over to her.

"Where have you learned to brew things that well?" he asked.

"I've always loved Potions, guess I've got a natural talent for it", she answered with a laugh. They then followed the other students out of the classroom.


End file.
